Set Up A Location-Based Reminder With Maps [iOS Tips]

Setting up a location-based reminder on the iPhone is fairly simple. Those lucky souls with an iPhone 4S can just ask Siri to do it for them, but – like the rest of us – they still need to have an address in a Contact entry on their iPhone to make it work properly. Aside from typing in address information into the Contacts app, there’s an even easier workaround, using the Maps app.

To create a location-based Reminder is simple, at first. Open Reminders and create a new task on your iPhone (iPad users don’t have location-based reminders, yet). Tap on the newly created Reminder to get to the Details screen. Tap on the Remind Me button, and then toggle the At a Location feature to ON. You’ll then have a choice to set your current location or an address from your Contacts list. You can also set the Reminder to notify you when you leave or when you arrive at the specified location.

Currently, Reminders requires an address from your Contacts list or your current location when adding a location-based Reminder. But what if you don’t have the address in your Contacts list? You’re out of luck, and you’ll need to go into Contacts to create it. Or, you can use the Maps app to find an address or drop a pin and then save that pin as a Contact.

To do that, open your Maps app. Search for a location nearby, like Home Depot. When Maps finds the store, tap on the blue circle with the right facing arrow in it. swipe down to the bottom of the screen, and tap Add to Contacts. Then tap Create New Contact, wait for the Contacts app to load, and hit the Done button.

You can now head back into the Reminders app and use the newly created Contact as your trigger location. This works the same if you just drop a pin on the map, whether there is an entry in the Maps database or not. Go to a place on your map you want to use as a trigger, and then just tap on the little curled up paper icon in the bottom right. Then tap Drop Pin. A purple map pin will show up in the center of your screen, which you can then add to your Contact list.

I’ve tried location-based reminder a few times on my AT&T iPhone 4 but it’s very wonky. The alert sometimes fires off before I’m less than five miles away from the specific address.

Sean Smith

I have to say I’m kind of disappointed. Here I was thinking I was going
to learn that there was a hidden “Remind Me” option in Maps when you
drop a pin that I had never noticed but that’s not the case… you still
have to add a contact in order to use it with Reminders. Who wants to add a “Home Depot” or “Walmart” contact to their contacts list? I know I don’t which is why I never use Reminders unless it involves me leaving or arriving at home.

I still can’t figure out why Apple, a company that stakes its reputation on
“simplicity,” would have chosen to go this route when it would have been
absolute child’s play for them to add a reminder with longitude and
latitude coordinates through the Maps app or by including a map subview within the Reminders app itself. Perhaps this will be included in iOS 6.

Sean Smith

Also, what’s with the automatic collapsing/expanding of the comments on your pages, Cult of Mac? It’s extremely annoying when trying to read and/or edit comments on your site. I’m not sure about the other browsers but it’s happening in the latest version of Firefox.

Haroon Ghalib

does not work for iphone 3GS! Sucks!

Andrew John

Yeah, thanks for that. And for the rest of the planet who don’t have full access to these Siri services? At least acknowledge it’s for US users only.

Rob LeFebvre

Yeah, thanks for that. And for the rest of the planet who don’t have full access to these Siri services? At least acknowledge it’s for US users only.

Hey, Andrew, I was careful about not making this a Siri tip – I only use an iPhone 4 myself. All the stuff above can be done without Siri, I think.